NHS bank staff who have served on the frontline during the covid-19 crisis claim they are now struggling to find work due to staffing changes within the health service.
The nurses and clinical support workers say they are also being subjected to last-minute shift cancellations – meaning they do not get paid - as wards shut down and staff are drafted in from other departments which have closed due to the pandemic.
Several health boards have offered bank staff temporary contracts, but uptake has been low as many of the workers are unable to take on regular, full-time hours due to issues such as childcare.
Trade unions are now working with NHS boards to come up with a solution for the staff, including the possibility of offering a more flexible temporary contract.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) wants to see bank nurses receive a guaranteed regular income, while Unite is also calling for staff to be paid when shifts are called off at the last minute.
The Scottish Government said it wants to ensure bank staff “are not disadvantaged as a consequence of covid-19”.
James O’Connell, Unite regional officer, said: “When this thing was just beginning, the bank workers were called on left, right and centre. These workers were keeping the service going, and that’s why this is actively being looked at and needs to be addressed.”
The union confirmed a paper is being drawn up by the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee to offer guidance to health boards on dealing with bank staff during the crisis “when NHS Scotland’s model of provision has changed significantly”.
Norman Provan, Associate Director of RCN Scotland, said: “We are aware of concerns regarding the availability of shifts for those registered with the NHS staff bank in a number of health boards, and the impact this can have on individual nursing staff.
“We have been raising the concerns of staff at a national and local level and are working with employers to look at options which will provide nursing staff registered with staff banks a guaranteed regular income."
The Herald has been in contact with three members of bank staff who have faced problems in recent weeks, including clinical support worker Andy Muir, from Blantyre, who said the situation feels like a 'kick in the teeth'.
The 50-year-old was working in a ward at Hairmyres Hospital in South Lanarkshire when he fell ill with covid-19 on Easter Sunday after several patients on the ward also contracted the virus.
He was off for two weeks but when he tried to return to work, he found there were no shifts available.
He said: "It's been weeks now and I've not been able to get anything. I've got no income at the minute, I've had to split my wages from last month to keep me going just now, but next month will be more of a struggle."
Mr Muir's fiance is a care worker so the couple still have one income coming in, but he is eager to return to work.
"I've been trying every day," he said. "I want to get back to work."
According to information provided to Unite by health boards across Scotland, demand still outstrips supply for bank staff. However, the nature of the work has changed so they may not be able to find work in the specialities they are used to working in.
A bank nurse, who asked not to be named, told The Herald that she has had several shifts cancelled at the last minute, meaning she did not get paid and was unable to find something else due to the short notice.
She has now been able to take on a temporary contract because her husband is currently at home with their children, but claims many bank workers are unable to do that and are now struggling to get shifts.
"The majority of the clinics have closed, so they've brought a lot of nurses from the clinics on to the wards to work, so there's less bank staff needed there,"she said.
"I've been in touch with a lot of the nurses and they've not been able to get work."
“The majority of us have been working in designated covid wards. Obviously with staff bank, you’re on a zero-hours contract so they don’t have to give you work, but you would think that they would want to look after loyal, reliable and experienced staff.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government appreciates the incredible work being done by NHS staff to save lives every day.
“Representatives of staff, employers and the Scottish Government are working together to ensure the fair treatment of all staff at this time and, following examination of this issue, the intention is to publish a set of guidelines designed to ensure that bank workers are not disadvantaged as a consequence of covid-19.”
Susan Friel, NHS Lanarkshire’s director of nursing for acute services, added: “Bank workers provide valuable support and enable us to enhance workforce cover if there are any short term gaps in staffing levels.
“As part of our response to covid-19, elective care was stood down. This led to existing registered nursing and health care support worker staff being appropriately deployed to other wards and areas to support the covid-19 response, reducing the need for bank staff support.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel